Heading into the Denver Nuggets ' matchup vs. the New Orleans Pelicans, Aaron Gordon wound up being a late scratch due to a hamstring injury that left head coach David Adelman tasked to elevate someone in his place within the starting five.

Pelicans' Derik Queen puts up numbers never before done in history of New Orleans basketball originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Matched up with Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, New Orleans Pelicans rookie Derik Queen didn't hold back.

The Pelicans gave the Nuggets a scare as Nikola Jokic fouled out late, but a frontcourt with Jonas Valanciunas and Zeke Nnaji held off New Orleans.

Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 125-118 in the NBA on Wednesday night. Peyton Watson scored a career-high 32 points as Denver won for the eighth time in nine games.

Associate head coach James Borrego has been named interim head coach.

Denver Nuggets held their nerves to edge out in a close victory over bottom-sided New Orleans Pelicans by 118-125. Peyton Watson had a career night with scores of 32 points on 13-of-19 (from field) and 5-of-9 (from three).

Some New Orleans Pelicans players felt Willie Green didn’t hold Zion Williamson accountable, according to NBA insider Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The Pelicans fired Green as head coach.

Green, 44, was in his fifth season as Pelicans head coach. The Pelicans are 2-9 this season, including four losses by at least 20 points. His final game was Friday's 118-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. A day earlier, Pelicans' owner Gayle Benson said in an interview that she was disappointed at the way the season has started.

This had been expected. While Green dealt with a lot of injuries on the roster, he also never maximized the talent on it.

The New Orleans Pelicans had high expectations for their franchise when they lucked out on high-leaping forward Zion Williamson, who they picked first in the 2019 NBA Draft. A 6'9" freak of nature who dominated the NCAA in his lone season with Duke, Williamson was seen as the NBA's next big thing, and the Pelicans were excited about the future.